Lavine and Wolves future (No mentioning of Love)

The more I watch Lavine the more I like him. Obviously he can jump, but he can also shoot from deep. I think he will be a starting two guard while also playing backup point guard. The Wolves are starting to develop some nice young pieces. I want to break them down without even bringing up a Love trade. I really like Rubio, he is a gritty defender who brings so much to the offense with the vision and ball handling, even if he can never hit a mid range jumper. Lavine I already commented on I think he will be a realy good player for a long time being able to play both guards. Shabazz I feel is coming along as well and will play much better with Adelman gone, he fits weel with Rubio with the ability to play off the ball and really shows a lot of hustle scoring on putbacks and souch. Dieng I feel is the rim protector a lot of teams lack with the ability to also put up 15 a night his defense alone will do wonders with some of the lack of defense with this squad. Pek is unstoppable on the block, poor defender but if Dieng can play PF this weakness can be minimized. The bench also shows a lot of depth at the wing with a healthy Buddinger, Corey Brewer who is very underated and Glen Robinson. There is also Fasenko who is coming out of nowhere and showing that he belongs in a rotation. Now I know this team isn't going anywhere next year in the West, but it appears that the years of terrible drafting has finally ended with some hope on the horizon.

The wolves have a couple young nice peices, the key is developing them. I wasn't sold on Lavine coming into the draft, I'm still not sold but man does he have glimpses. It is summer league, but nonetheless Lavine has been impressive. Hopefully he and Shabazz are developed rather than simply thrown to the fire.

Looks like he can become a big time scorer who can facilitate well. Thats a player you build around. He attacks when he should, passes when he should, has a quick release off dribble or screens. I would have taken him over Smart.

I totally agree with the fact that Zach needs to hit the weights. It looks like it did do a lot for Shabazz, he is looking tenacious down low grabbing boards and scoring on second chances. Funny how a guy loses weight and looks bigger with added muscle. Even though Adelman didn't let Shabazz play which to me was dumb, I'll bet he was taught to work hard and learned a few other valuable lessons. I expect him to contribute a lot this year. As for Lavine I think Flip needs Brewer's defense in the starting lineup. Lavine though could play a lot off the bench at both guard spots. I think Martin is gone one way or another...
Lineup PG Rubio SG Brewer SF Shabazz PF-WHO KNOWS C Pek
Bench-Dieng, Lavine, will play big minutes with Robinson and Budinger getting run as well.
This is a very athletic team, I hope they can move love along with Martin and just be done with it.

I hope Levine picks up some of shabazz's work ethic. Shabazz just goes flying in for rebounds or loose balls and it is really standing out. He also has the quick second jump on rebounds which helps him. He is doing this in summer league when he has a guaranteed contract against guys who fighting for a chance to make the NBA and he is out hustling them. Levine looks good, he has a ton of pontential and yousee flashes of it. If he works hard he could be one of the top players in the draft class.

It's been an interesting summer league so far for the Wolves team. I've been impressed with Lavine's ability to run the point. His decision making still needs to improve, but his dribbling and passing have been solid. At the same time, I cannot wait to see him playing off the ball with Rubio. If you notice he hasn't been releasing at all in SL since he's running the point. During the season when he can get out and run with Rubio getting the ball to him will be fun to watch. His shot is so damn smooth too and with his elevation and quick release he can get it off whenever he wants it seems like. I just love watching him play. Shabazz plays so hard which is refreshing to watch, but he just has to play smarter, take better shots, and let the game come to him. I know you don't want to talk about it, but at this point (I can't believe I'm saying this) I wouldn't even mind keeping Love. With Flip actually letting these young guys play our bench would be way better than last year, the team would be way more exciting, and the fact we can offer Love $20+ million more than anyone else next year makes me think there's a chance he could stay. I guess that still doesn't change the fact we are in the brutal Western Conference, which means even with all that we still would have a tough time making the playoffs. Ok, so maybe I just want to see Love throwing outlets to Lavine to throw down monster dunks on the break, but whatever I'm just actually excited about the Wolves future for the first time in awhile.